Your ShelfYour Projects

Signs of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 10.

Christ Our Model
Earlier text: Important Questions Answered

Prayer.

By Christian

Do not speculate and reason about prayer, but pray, and rest your case with God. He who moves you to pray has surely an answer provided in his own good way. Do not doubt him, do not question, do not hesitate, but pour out your heart in prayer. His eyes are over the righteous; his ear is open to their cry. The young birds in their nests cry, and he feedeth them; are ye not much better than they? The young lions roar and seek their meat from God, who provides for them in his own way. Shall he not care for you and me? Provision is made for the body; if it wants light, it has an eye with which to get it; if it wants knowledge, food, and clothing, it has a brain, and hands, and feet, with which to acquire them. He has not made the body a prince, and left the soul a beggar. The soul wants pardon, and peace, and comfort, and bread from Heaven, and has no way but to cry out for it. “Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find.”
All Heaven is pledged to make that promise good. Whatever troubles come, whatever cares oppress, whatever fears give anxiety—pray. “When thou passeth through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” “For I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine.”—Christian.

Daniel a Type.

We take the following from a recent sermon by Rev. J. H. Morley, of St. Paul, as printed in a daily in that city:—
Daniel in Babylon is a type of the Christian in the world. Every Christian is surrounded by his temptations. It is not fanciful to draw an analogy between Babylon and the world, Daniel and the Christian. The world neglects God, and its temptations still solicit the Christian. Times change, but the temptation remains in changed form. There is no law against prayer, but there is the temptation to neglect it. Our own desires lead us astray, as Daniel was tempted by the luxury of Babylon. We may have moral cowardice just as really as Daniel would have shown it if he had obeyed the king’s command. We may be untrue to religious convictions, as Daniel would have been untrue if he had joined the idolaters.
Daniel’s protest against the idolatry and worldliness of Babylon should be our protest against irreligion and worldliness to-day. Men live for low aims. Living in luxury, they sneer at temperance as fanaticism; they despise a life of humble faith in Christ, and obedience. Entering political life, they prostitute official position to promote gain and go unwhipped of justice. Entering business they pile up money and estates to lavish upon themselves. There is much that is superficial in even our religious life. It tends to shallowness, to a refined epicureanism.
As Daniel lived a simple, a true, a heroic life in Babylon, and so in some slight way modified the men of his times, so accomplished his little part in God’s plan of bringing men to himself, so you, if you will be true to yourself and to your religious convictions; if, in the place where God puts you, you shall, in the fear of God, do your duty as he makes it known to you, then you will do what you can to make the world better. Our influence over the world comes from our ruling of ourselves.

A MITE SONG.

By Christian Giver

Only a drop in the bucket, But every drop will tell; The bucket would soon be empty, Without the drops in the well.
Only a poor little penny, It was all I had to give; But as pennies make the dollars, It may help some cause to live.
A few little bits of ribbon And some toys—they were not new— But they made the sick child happy, Which has made me happy, too.
Only some outgrown garments— They were all I had to spare— But they'd help to clothe the needy, And the poor are everywhere.
A word now and then of comfort, That cost me nothing to say; But the poor old man died happy, And it helped him on the way.
God loveth the cheerful giver, Though the gift be poor and small; What doth he think of his children When they never give at all?
—Christian Giver.

Loyalty to God.

SOMETIMES, in order to obey God, we may be under the necessity of disregarding the authority of men. There is a realm of spirit which civil authority has no right to enter, and where God alone is to be heard and obeyed. Civil governments are designed to define our civil obligations and to regulate our civil intercourse with each other. But we sustain relations to God, and are under obligations to him, with which no civil authority has any right to interfere, and which it cannot annul. If the civil power presumes to enter this spiritual domain, and enjoin what God has clearly forbidden, it violates the rights of conscience, its authority is usurped, and it cannot properly be recognized. This was the great principle on which the apostles acted. When human and divine authority came in conflict, they chose to “obey God rather than men.” But the principle is older than the apostles. It was asserted and maintained in the royal court of Babylon, when the three Hebrew youths positively refused to worship the image which the king had set up, preferring to suffer the penalty of the law, should God not see fit to deliver them. Civil authority may make a thing legally binding, but it cannot make it morally right.
There is a law for the regulation of our moral conduct which is far above all human law, and to which our moral conduct should conform. Human laws, it is presumed, are intended, at least in Christian countries, to conform to this higher law, but this is not always the case. There are many things sanctioned by human laws to-day, as interpreted by courts of justice, that are in direct conflict with the law of God. While we should be subject to those who are in authority over us, we should remember that their authority is limited, and that no human authority has a right to require us to do wrong. Our highest allegiance is to God. It was this which led the martyrs to the stake. They refused to be untrue to God to please men.—Methodist Recorder.

God's Signals.

By T. L. Cuyler

On a bright May morning I rode across the verdant plain of Rephaim, which lies on the Bethlehem road south of Jerusalem. I recalled the wonderful encounter with the Philistines on that plain, when God ordered King David to “fetch a compass behind the Philistines and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going [or a rustling] in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself, for the Lord shall then go out before thee.” That sound in the tree-tops—perhaps like the sound of the march of an army in the air—was to be the signal for an advance. It was the token of the divine presence. David heard and obeyed the signal. When God moved, he moved. The result was a glorious victory; and the Philistines were swept away like chaff before a gale. This unique incident in Jewish history is full of practical suggestion. God orders special steps at special times. Faith must watch Providence and be on the lookout for the signals. When God moves is our time to move. If we move with him, success is certain to come; if we move without him, then the failure is our fault. How clearly was the divine signal manifested to the little company in the upper room at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost! The Holy Spirit descended, and the apostles fell into line with the Spirit's leadings; when the Spirit worked, they worked, and thousands of souls were converted in a single day! Equally clear was the signal to Martin Luther to “move on the enemy's works,” and within the Reformer's life-time the spiritual face of one-third of Europe was changed. Why the Reformation ran along the lines of certain races and nations and did not touch others, is to us a mystery; but that God's hand was in the movement, no sane man can question.—T. L. Cuyler.

She Loved Christ More.

By Dr. Judson

A Karen woman offered herself for baptism. After the usual examination, I inquired whether she could give up her ornaments for Christ. It was an unexpected blow. I explained the spirit of the gospel; I appealed to her own consciousness of vanity; I read to her the apostle’s prohibition (1 Tim. 2:9). She looked again and again at her handsome necklace; and then, with an air of modest decision that would adorn beyond all ornaments any Christian in the land, she took it off, saying, “I love Christ more than this.”—Dr. Judson.

Seeds of Influence and Personal Holiness

By W. M. Taylor

SOMETIMES the “heaviest wheat of all” may spring up from seeds dropped in an accidental way. What a motive to the maintenance of personal holiness! The accidental is a shadow of the intentional. Influence is the exhalation of character.—W. M. Taylor.

A Straight Line Is the Shortest

A STRAIGHT line is the shortest in morals as in mathematics.—Maria Edgeworth.

A Talk on the Responsibilities of Women.

By Mrs. Margaret E. Bottome

I took up a paper a few days ago, and this first caught my eye:—

WANTED—MEN.

We do not mean in point of number, but of character. The great want of our times is men. When the old Greeks spoke of a man, they meant a hero, one endowed with courage and strength, one who would return from the battle-field only “with his shield or on it.” We need in these days men who are heroes; not with sword and spear and shield, but with moral virtues. We have battles to wage that tell more on the good of humanity than those the Greek heroes fought. So we say that the great need of the times is men, manly men, moral heroes.
The only clew which the writer gave as to how we should get such men was that we must make the demand, and we shall get the supply. “We must demand character.” “But,” I reflected, “character is something that is made; and the truth has passed into a proverb that ‘the mother makes the man.’”
You will find the model woman by opening your Bibles, and turning to the last chapter of Proverbs. The inspired writer says, “Strength and honor are her clothing;”—a magnificent dress!—“She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness;”—think how many women open their mouth to gossip and slander! The law with many is unkindness instead of kindness. “She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness”—“She looketh.” It does not say that, necessarily, she is to do the work; but she is “to look” to see that it is done. And no woman, no matter though she has her millions, can afford to eat the bread of idleness. The more money she has, if she is true, the more work she will have to do. “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” “Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. . . . Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.”
Do you mark that in these last three verses the word praise occurs three times? The deep need of a woman’s nature is expressed in that word praise. I am glad that God says, “She shall be praised,” for she needs it. Her husband, if he is the husband he ought to be, praises her if she is the woman here described. I think there is a “withholding” of praise, “more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty.” Wives are not praised; children are not praised as they should be. Every fault is carefully marked, and reproofs are not withheld; but when our children do well, or try to improve, are we generous with our praise? We seem to think praise is hurtful. Flattery is, but praise never. God loves to be praised. And we praise him; and we ought to praise each other when it is deserved. I am glad God promises a supply though the human supply ceases. When God says shall, it will be done. I want you to mark this particularly: “A woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised; and her works praise her.” How many works of Christian charity are monuments of praise to the noble women in our great city to-day! We greatly need more such women, and never more than now.
Now, let us go back to the nursery. To every little child this world is without form and void; and the first light that God brings out of the darkness is the face of the mother. And the first sound that enters the silent sea of an infant soul is the voice of its mother, as she bends over it trying to catch some look or call of recognition. A mother’s influence, who can estimate it? The child will be very much what the mother is, and what the force of her own character and example makes it.
I heard a story some time ago, of a little child whose mother asked her brother to step into the nursery and hear his little niece say her prayers, as the mother was prevented from doing so by company. After repeating the “Now I lay me,” etc., she added, most earnestly, “And, Lord, make us all very stylish.” That child had been impressed that the one thing needful was to be stylish. Thus the child, even before it leaves the nursery, and notwithstanding all the good lessons it has learned there, is prepared, by the unconscious influence of the mother, for the worldly aims that are opening for her full soon.
Now do not misunderstand me. I do not mean that class of mothers—so called, but who are unworthy of the name—who are training their children in the children’s carnivals, where they are made to dance dressed like so many wax dolls, while their mothers like big wax dolls are admiringly looking on. Poor little children, every one of whom should be in bed instead. Do you think such children will be likely to have “strength and honor for their clothing”? The foolish women they call mothers are not even giving their children physical education, to say nothing of a moral outfit for this and the next world. It is sickening to see these children trained in the art of flirtation, long before they should have left the nursery. I hope I have no such mothers before me, or I should feel called upon to address them specially.
But let me ask you, mothers, if you bestow half the thought of the clothing which the inspired writer calls “strength and honor”—principles of unselfishness, of honesty and real truthfulness—that you give to dressing the bodies of your children? I have not one word to say against beautiful adornings for childhood; but let me ask, do you lead them from the beautiful to the more beautiful? I remember a picture of my childhood. I was visiting a young friend, who had just received her summer hat. I well remember the wreath of bright artificial flowers that enlivened it. My little friend bounded into the room where her aged grandma sat, exclaiming: “Grandma, see my new hat!” The dear old lady, dressed in severest Quaker garb, seated in her old arm-chair, smiled at her happy child and said: “Yes, my darling; and it is very pretty.” And laying her hand on the head of her little granddaughter, she said: “And if thee is good, my dear child, some day the angels will put a wreath of more beautiful flowers than these are, and that will never fade away, on thy fair head.” I think if the dear old lady had said a crown, I might have forgotten it, but the wreath of imperishable flowers I have never forgotten. Do we, as mothers, suggest to our children, as we put them in their fairy-like white garments, thoughts of the spotless robes, the white garments, in which we and our children are to be clothed for eternity?—Mrs. Margaret E. Bottome.

The Home Circle.

By Sel.

CONTENTMENT.

No need for envy in this life, No cause for quarreling and strife; The young and old, the rich and poor, Have each their trials to endure, And every lot its share of joy— Some gold as well as some alloy.
Though some may have large share of wealth, And others only ruddy health, Perchance if we the heart might read, We'd find the poor man rich indeed, And his rich brother very poor In every source of pleasure pure.
We cannot see the hidden life, Or know what troubles may be rife, Or grief within the soul find place, Masked to the world by smiling face; And we need no one's burdens bear, Except our own allotted share. —Sel.

Guarding Children's Taste and Innocent Hearts

PLACE before children nothing but what is simple, lest you spoil their taste; and nothing that is not innocent, lest you spoil their hearts.

Happy Nancy’s Secret.

THERE once lived in an old brown cottage a solitary lame woman. She tended her little garden and knit and spun for a living. She was known from village to village by the name of “Happy Nancy.” She had no money, no family, no relatives, and was half blind, lame, and crooked. There was no particular comeliness in her; and yet, there in that homely, deformed body, God had set his royal seal!
“Well, Nancy, singing again?” said a visitor one day.
“Oh, yes, I am forever at it.”
“I wish you would tell me your secret, Nancy? You are alone, you work hard, you have nothing very pleasant surrounding you. What is the reason you’re so happy?”
“Perhaps it’s because I haven’t got any consolation but in God,” replied the good creature looking up. “You see, rich folks, like you, depend upon their families and their houses; they’ve to think of their business, of their wives and children, and then they are always afraid of trouble ahead. I have not got anything to trouble myself about, you see, sir, ’cause I leave it all to the Lord. I think, well, if he can keep this great world in such good order, the rolling sun day after day, and the stars a-shining night after night, and make my garden things come up just the same season after season, he can surely take care of such a poor simple thing as I am; and so, you see, I leave it all to the Lord and the Lord takes care of me.”
“Well, but Nancy, suppose a frost should come after your fruit trees are all in blossom, and suppose—”
“But I don’t suppose, sir; I never can suppose; I don’t want to suppose, except that the Lord will do everything right. That’s what makes people like you, sir, unhappy, you’re all the time supposing how; why can’t you wait till the suppose comes, as I do, and then make the best of it?”
“Ah, Nancy, it’s pretty certain you’ll get to Heaven, while many of us, with all our worldly wisdom, will be shut out.”
“There you are at it again, sir,” said Nancy, shaking her head, “always looking out for some black cloud. Why, if I was you I’d keep the enemy at arm’s length, instead of taking him right into my heart. He is sure to do you a world of mischief.”
And was not “Happy Nancy” right? We do take the demon of care, of distrust, of melancholy forebodings, of ingratitude, right into our hearts. We canker every pleasure with this gloom and fear of coming ill; we seldom trust that blessings will enter, or hail them when they come.
Would it not be well for us to imitate “Happy Nancy” and “never suppose”? If you see a cloud, don’t suppose its going to rain. If you see a frown, don’t suppose a scolding will follow. Do whatever your hands find to do and there leave it. Be more childlike toward your heavenly Father; believe in his love; learn to confide in his wisdom and not in your own; and above all “wait till the suppose comes and then make the best of it.”—Sel.

Wars and Rumors of War Across Four Decades

In the period of a man's life now forty years old how many notable and stirring wars have taken place. There have been wars and rumors of war—the Crimean war, the Indian mutiny, the struggle between Austria and Prussia, the war between France and Italy and Austria, the rebellion of China, our own civil conflict, the war between France and Germany, the war between Russia and Turkey, the war between Chili and Peru. There has been fighting in Italy, in Turkestan, in Spain, in Bosnia, and Herzegovina, in Mexico, in Abyssinia, on the gold coast of Africa, in Egypt, and in the Soudan.—Mobile Register.

Wrong Use of Words.

THE word “reckon” is a good biblical term, whose meaning has been sadly perverted in our popular speech. Southerners say “reckon” where a Yankee would say “guess,” and one of these expressions is commonly about as correct as the other; that is, not correct at all. To “reckon” is not to suppose, nor to think, nor to imagine, nor to believe. It is a more exact and specific word than any one of these. When a man “reckons” he does about the solidest and most exact thing that the human mind is capable of doing. When Paul says that he reckons that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, he is not guessing, nor supposing, nor imagining, nor even believing. The word reckon is a mathematical term. It means to count. It is properly applied to the act of footing up a column of figures and setting down the “answer” as the school-boys call it.
The English inn-keeper, when you are about to leave his house, hands you your “reckoning.” It is a piece of paper containing an account of all the items with which you have been supplied during your stay; and the price of each “item” is set down and the total footed up.
There was nothing indefinite about Paul’s “reckoning.” It was a case of straightforward counting. The “items” were in his own personal experience. He had experienced the sufferings of this present time as few human beings have ever done. He knew what they were. They were no guess-work.
And then he had been caught up to the third heaven and had revelations of the divine glory too grand for human utterance. And thus he was in a condition to “reckon.” He had the facts before him. Suppositions were not indulged. “Unproved hypotheses” had no place. Speculations were nowhere. He did not “pass beyond the boundary of the experimental evidence,” in order to “discern” anything. He simply footed up the column—worked the “sum”—and calmly stated the answer. It is as solid as arithmetic, as certain as the multiplication table, as safe as the “rule of three.”
To a skeptic, like John Stuart Mill, the glorious future of the Christian was of the nature of an unverified hypothesis, or baseless fancy. To a Christian like Paul, that future was a solid answer to an arithmetical problem—a sure and safe “reckoning.”—Biblical Recorder.

Those Transients.

By Annie A. Preston

“I DID not wait for an introduction to her,” said Mrs. Rice, speaking of a woman she had seen at church the Sunday before. “I thought that in all probability I should never meet her again, or but two or three times at most, and I don’t think it worth while to make myself agreeable to transients.” “I once spent a night at the Tip Top House, Mount Washington,” replied Miss Barber. “There was a house full of guests, all transients of course, who stayed over to see the sun rise. It is not a pleasant place to stay; the wind howls and shrieks, it is cold, and altogether dreary. I have seldom felt more forlorn than when the night closed in around us there, yet I look back upon that evening as one of the most delightful I have ever passed. Every one seemed to aim to give of his best. There were games, stories, bits of adventures, incidents of travel, and songs, and we parted for the night by joining in singing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” As my aunt and I were preparing for bed she said: ‘This reminds me of the world. We are all transients, and if we have a mind to make it so, this world is a cold, cheerless, unfriendly place. Now if we would all contribute our mite toward helping everything to go on pleasantly, and making life delightful, what a different time of it altogether we should all have.’”
“It was a lesson to me. I was young and somewhat disposed to be dissatisfied with things in general. That taught me that I had my individual part in life toward making things pleasant. Since then I have never refused an introduction to a stranger, nor given any one who spoke to me a rebuff, nor under any circumstances crawled into my shell like a turtle. A gushing rivulet gives more pleasure all the way than a frozen pool; a ray of sunshine is more inspiring than a fog bank. With the abiding presence of the Spirit to help me, I will give of my best wherever I am placed, and believe me, dear Mrs. Rice, it pays.”—Annie A. Preston, in Christian at Work.

New England Thrift.

AND what forethought and economy marked the New England home! Extravagance and running into debt were scarlet sins with the fathers and mothers of old times in New England. Possibly it would not hurt us to practice a little more of the same stern virtues at the present day. It has been urged against the New England home, in this respect of saving, that it made the family penurious and gave an undue bent of avarice to the character. This was, doubtless, the excess of tendency to be guarded against, and that it has given a certain littleness in financial dealings, not always broadening or elevating, must be confessed. But it was a hard task when the family had to bend bone and muscle to scrape a living off the rocks they called soil. The scrapings came hard; and, if they were doled out in driblets, it was no worse than the way in which they came. Yet when Benjamin Franklin was reproached for this hoarding spirit, he replied, “Yes, I save in order that I may have to give.” And after all is said, what more generous givers have been found than among these same “close” New Englanders—whether in missions, philanthropic movements, in famine or pestilence, in devastation by fire or flood, in munificent bequests in private wills? The self-denying, helpful home-spirit cultivated in every household modified excessive frugality and made it a forehanded giver. On the whole, the New England home trained up quite as broad-minded and generous givers as the world has ever seen.—Sel.

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY. IN FOUR VOLUMES.

By Mrs. E. G. White.
THESE volumes describe the great conflict between Christ and Satan, as illustrated in the history of man, his temptations, conflicts, victories and defeats, and the final triumph of right and truth with a crowning immortality.
Volume one treats of the rebellion of Satan, the fall of man, and the lives of the patriarchs to the time of Solomon.
Volumes two and three are devoted to the Life of Christ and the Ministry of his Apostles.
Volume four contains sketches of the history of the Church from the destruction of Jerusalem to the close of time.
These books are not argumentative, yet they throw much light on the sacred page. They afford especial encouragement to the Christian, and are excellent to place in the hands of skeptics to convince them of Bible truth.
The four volumes contain over 1,500 pages, and are furnished to the subscriber for $4.00 per set.
Either volume may be furnished separately for $1.00, post-paid.
PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.
REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Mich.

BIBLE-READINGS. IN TWO NUMBERS.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

EMBRACING A PORTION OF THE BIBLE COURSE AT HEALDSBURG COLLEGE.
(Including also the readings given at the State Meeting in Oakland.)
BY ELD. E. J. WAGGONER,
These Readings differ in two respects from other series of readings that have been published. They were prepared especially for the use of colporters and those who intend to conduct Bible-readings in missionary fields, and they present a connected chain of argument upon the fundamental doctrines of Present Truth.
NUMBER ONE contains 57 pages, embracing sixteen readings, as follows:—
No. Ques. No. Ques.
Daniel 2 93 The Law of God No. 4 32
Daniel 7 93 “ ” No. 5 31
Daniel 8 69 Ephesians 2:15 26
Daniel 9 94 Romans 6:14 23
The Sanctuary 19 Romans 10:4 17
The Law of God, No. 1 30 Galatians 3:13 19
“ ” No. 2 31 Romans 3:20 10
“ ” No. 3 28 Tithing 99
NUMBER TWO contains 46 pages, embracing twenty-two readings, as follows:—
No. Ques. No. Ques.
The Sabbath, No. 1 51 2 Corinthians 5:8 18
“ ” 2 49 Luke 23:39–43 16
“ ” 3 42 1 Peter 3:18–20 10
Colossians 2:14–17 19 Luke 16:19–31 37
Psalms 118:24 13 Living Souls 14
Penalty of Transgression 10 Nature of Man 18
Sanctification 43 Punishment of the Wicked 70
Second Coming of Christ 64 Work of the Spirit, No. 1 47
The Resurrection 59 “ ” 2 51
Immortality 18 Church Membership 61
Philippians 1:23 5 Missionary Labor 52
PRICE FOR THE TWO, 50 CENTS.
A small edition has been printed on very thin paper for the use of those who wish to paste them between the leaves of their Bibles. Price for the two, 50 cents.
Address,    SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. Or, REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Mich.

THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR.

By Editor

AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY PAPER FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN, DEVOTED TO MORAL, MENTAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE.
This paper is not devoted to insipid stories and religious fiction, but is filled with a great variety of that kind of reading which tends to the healthful development of the youthful mind. Its pages are made bright by the choicest illustrative pictures, and its columns are always full of useful information.
As a Sabbath-school and Lesson paper, it is suited to the wants of scholars and teachers, and is calculated to increase the interest of all who read it, in thorough Bible study.
TERMS, ALWAYS IN ADVANCE.—Single copy, 75 cents a year; Five copies to one address, 60 cents each; Ten or more copies to one address, 50 cents each.

NEW PREMIUM OFFER.—“GOLDEN GRAINS” SERIES.

For every new subscription, accompanied with 85 cents, we will give “Golden Grains” series, consisting of a package of ten beautiful pamphlets of 32 pages each. These comprise a choice collection of sketches, stories, poems, etc., adapted to the wants of children, and contain more reading matter than can be found in many dollar books. Remember, the whole series, 320 pages, and the INSTRUCTOR for a year, for 85 cents.
Address, YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR, Battle Creek, Mich. Or, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.

Sleigh-Bells.

The making of sleigh-bells is quite an art. The little iron ball is too big to be put in through the holes in the bell, and yet it is inside. How did it get there? The little iron ball is called “the jinglet.” When you shake the sleigh-bell it jingles. In making the bell, this jinglet is put inside a little ball of mud, just the shape of the inside of the bell. Then a mould is made, just the shape of the outside of the bell. This mud ball, with the jinglet inside, is placed in the mould of the outside, and the metal is poured in, which fills up the space between the ball and the mould. When the mould is taken off, you see a sleigh-bell, but it will not ring, as it is full of dirt. The hot metal dries the dirt that the bell is made of, so it can be shaken out. After the dirt is all shaken out of the holes in the bell, the little iron jinglet will still be in the bell, and will ring. It took a good many years to think how to make a sleigh-bell.

The Remedy for Gossip: Philippians 4:8

The best remedy for gossip is that given by Paul in Phil. 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Wealth Lies in Having Few Wants

WEALTH consists not in having great possessions but in having few wants.—Epicurus.

Publishers’ Department.

By Editor

WE send no papers from this office without pay in advance, unless by special arrangement. When persons receive copies without ordering them, they are sent by other parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. Persons thus receiving copies of the SIGNS are not indebted to the office, and will not be called upon for pay. Please read the papers and hand them to your friends to read.
Money orders, drafts, etc., should be made to “Pacific Press;” never to individuals, as they may be absent, and business thereby be delayed.
All letters pertaining to SIGNS business should be addressed to SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal., and not to the editors, clerks, or other individuals.

Street and Number.

By Editor

WILL the city colporters and canvassers please to be careful to give full address—street and number, or post-office box—of subscribers, when sending in subscriptions to the SIGNS. Please write names as plainly as possible. We desire to use every precaution necessary to insure the prompt and regular delivery of the paper.

The Twelve Spies.

By J. B. A.

J. B. A.—The most useful information that we think can be given concerning the twelve spies is found in “Testimony No. 27,” pages 9 to 20 inclusive. It also answers your query about the cluster of grapes which was so large that two men carried it between them on a staff. “Testimony No. 27,” in pamphlet form (190 pages), mailed post-paid for 25 cents. Address Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich., or PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.

Please Take Notice.

WILL each subscriber be kind enough to look at the date opposite his name on the paper or wrapper, and if not paid to Jan. 1, 1886, he will confer a favor by forwarding the subscription immediately.
Any person wishing the address of his paper changed, should give the name of the place where it has been sent, as well as the name of the place where he wishes it to be sent. Our list is kept by towns, and it is important that the above directions be complied with. Give the name of the State as well as of the post-office.

RECEIPTS

NOTICE.—The change of figures on the address labels will be in all cases a sufficient receipt for money sent for the paper. If these changes do not appear in due time, and if books ordered by mail are not received, please notify us. All other business is acknowledged below.
CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE FUND.—Wm Ings (tithe) $10, Norwalk Church (tithe) $20, San Francisco (tithe) $28.25.
CHURCH DEBT FUND.—C C Palmer $5, O Wilson $20, Bertha Unger $5, Wm Ings $25.
CASH RECEIVED ON ACCOUNT.—Kansas T and M Society $20, Indiana T and M Society $12.50, Iowa T and M Society $411.10, Clara Wood Gibbs $45.65, Carrie E Mills $15, Clara E Low $2.10, W A Young $2.70, L H Hunting $9, G D Lobdell $25.10.
CALIFORNIA T AND M SOCIETY.—Wm Ings 90c, M L Irving $2, Daisy Stevens $3, Thos Pearson $1, W H Hilderbrand $1, W A Blakely $3, G P Sanford $2, Mrs Rudolph $1, Josie Cochran $5.25.

ORDERS FORWARDED.

BOOKS SENT BY FREIGHT.—C L Boyd (2).
BOOKS SENT BY EXPRESS.—Geo E Dye, Geo Vickery, Mrs Alex T Brown, Alice Morrison, Prof C C Ramsey, Eld E A Briggs, Lottie Hutchings, Hetty Hurd.
BOOKS SENT BY MAIL.—L J Benton, Mrs Hannah D Peck, S C Olive, Mrs A McPhee, C A Hall, I G Knight, Clint S Miller, Mrs M A Winkler, A D Benton, Zach Thorp, Susan Smith, Charlie Kaerth, David Rich, Lillie Dinwiddie, Walter Weaver, Sarah McEnterfer, Mrs J E Cole, G P Sanford, H Munn, G W Caviness, A E Rea, W H Wheeler, Matilda Coolen, Mrs L A Wykoff, B Robb.

News and Notes.

RELIGIOUS.

—It is rumored that the patriarch of Constantinople will abandon the Greek for the Roman Church.
—The Missionary Outlook says that three-fourths of the Bibles shipped from New York to foreign mission stations go to Mexico and South America.
—The “Christian Scientists” of Boston are reported as causing trouble in the churches by their followers asking letters of dismissal to the new order.
—Rev. George N. Nobbs, who for fifty-six years has been pastor of the Pitcairn and Norfolk islanders, died recently at the age of eighty-five. He was married to the granddaughter of Lieutenant Christian, of the Bounty.
—Dr. Willard, of the Missionary Review, says there are 755 more Protestant foreign missionaries than there were seven years ago, and he estimates the whole number now in service to be 2,755. The contributions to carry on their work last year aggregated $9,203,237.
—In Elberton, Georgia, there is a congregation called the “Reformed Hardshell Baptist Church.” One of its articles is that “no female member shall wear any dress more costly than calico, nor any head-dress except a sunbonnet.” The Independent supposes that the women are the “Reformed” element, and the men the “Hardshell.”
—Germany has annexed the Cameroons territory on the west coast of Africa. And the Baptist Missionary Society of England has appealed to Lord Granville to protect British subjects in the Cameroons, and to demand from Germany indemnity for the destruction of the Baptist mission there. The property was valued at about $10,000.
—A Boston correspondent of the Occident reports a compromise between Methodists and Unitarians, by which a Unitarian Church is to have a Methodist pastor. He calls it “the lion and lamb combination,” but he does not tell which one is regarded as the lamb, nor which the lion, nor whether either is “Father.” Well, well, what are the churches coming to?
—A new religious paper has been started in Troy, S. C., called the Psalm Singer. It is to be devoted to the advocacy of the singing of psalms exclusively in worship. But whether the psalms must be sung in Hebrew, or in the English of King James’ translation, we are not informed. In either case we should like to hear the “long list of editors” sing just once.
—At a meeting of the Presbyterian ministers of Pittsburg and Allegheny City, on Feb. 9, resolutions strongly denouncing roller skating were unanimously adopted. The testimony of a physician, who has had special facilities for observation, says that the amusement has greatly increased debility among young women, and that it has laid the foundation of serious diseases.
—At a meeting of the General Ministerial Association, of Portland, Oregon, composed of all evangelical ministers of Portland and East Portland, the following resolution was passed: “Resolved, That we, as an association of ministers, do hereby agree that we will refuse to marry any persons who have been divorced for other than scriptural reasons, and also the guilty party in a rightful case of divorce.” Good.
—A young Japanese Christian, imprisoned at Tokio, for too free expression of his liberal sentiments, labored successfully for the conversion of a fellow-prisoner. Others gathered to hear him, till he had a congregation of 300 earnest listeners. At his liberation he informed the authorities of the miserable condition of the prisoners, when he was appointed governor of a new prison, with permission to teach and practice the doctrines of Christianity.
—The annual summary of British contributions to societies devoted to missionary work in foreign parts has lately been completed. It shows that the total sums voluntarily given in the British Isles during the year 1883-84, were as follows: Church of England Societies, £491,647; Joint Societies of Churchmen and Nonconformists, £182,085; English and Welsh Nonconformist Societies, £341,046; Scotch and Irish Presbyterian Societies, £193,208; Roman Catholic Societies, £8,544. Total contributions for 1883-84, £1,216,530. This total, which exceeds that of any previous year, does not include any income from investments, nor balances in hand at the commencement of the year, nor any foreign contributions.
Continue reading: SECULAR